UNAVEM was established to verify the redeployment northward and the phased and total withdrawal of Cuban troops from the territory of the Peoples's Republic of Angola in accordance with the timetable agreed between the Parties. The Mission was established for a period of 31 months, with effect from January 1989. Qualifying time for the award of the UNAVEM medal is 90 days of service in the Mission.
The ribbon contains a central broad band of UN blue flanked by three equal stripes of black, white and red, with wide yellow bands at either end. The yellow, red and black are representative of the Angolan national flag, with the white representing the UN presence in the country. The countries of Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Congo, Czechoslovakia, India, Jordan, Norway, Spain and Yugoslavia provide Military Observers to this Mission. In May 1991, the mandate of this Mission was enlarged to include verification of the arrangements agreed to by the Angolan parties for the monitoring of the Angolan Police as set out in the Angola Peace Accords of May 1991. With the enlarged mandate, the countries of Canada, Egypt, Guinea Bissau, Hungary, Ireland, Malaysia, Morocco, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Senegal, Singapore, Sweden and Zimbabwe have also contributed Military Observers to the Mission. The medal and qualifying time remain the same.
Among the main features of UNAVEM III's mandate are the following: to provide Good Offices and mediation to the Angolan parties, to monitor and verify the extension of State administration throughout the country and the process of national reconciliation; to supervise, control and verify the disengagement of forces and to monitor the cease-fire; to assist in the establishment of quartering areas, to verify the withdrawal, quartering and demobilization of UNITA forces; to supervise the collection and storage of UNITA armaments; to coordinate, facilitate and support humanitarian activities directly linked to the peace process, as well as participating in mine-clearing activities; to declare formally that all essential requirements for the holding of the second round of the presidential election have been fulfilled, and to support, verify and monitor the electoral process. The medal and qualifying time remain the same. Upon completion of the task, the Mission was terminated in June 1997.
The countries of Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Bulgaria, Congo, Egypt, Fiji, France, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, India, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Korea, Malaysia, Mali, Namibia, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Russian Federation, Senegal, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania, Ukraine, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Uruguay, Zambia, and Zimbabwe provided troops, military observers and civilian police to this Mission.
